[pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)

[david at dalbey.org (David)]

My experience with this watch on the JMT this summer was calibrate often!  I
actually like it for the price. I think I paid about $59 for it.  My
experience concurs with the previous post that it might be off as much as
50-100' but I still found it informative in that if I have 1200' to climb if
I'm off 70' it's not bad considering it's a $60 watch that's also providing
time and an alarm if needed and lets me know how cold it got in the tent
that night. If I reach the pass 70' early I feel like superman.  If I
thought I should have been to the top 70' earlier, well, at least I can see
the top! 

Would I pay $130 for it?  Hell no!  I'd probably spend the extra $70 and get
the Suunto Vector (I think it's called).

My biggest gripe is that it doesn't read below 0 ft. and can't seem to be
adjusted until it reads 0 or above again...Although that wasn't really a
concern in the Sierra's

My .02 is for a $60 watch it's just fine.  You get what you pay for!

David
David@dalbey.org

  :-----Original Message-----
  :From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-
  :bounces@mailman.backcountry.net] On Behalf Of Monty Tam
  :Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 8:57 PM
  :To: pct-l
  :Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch? (NOT the Helix)
  :
  :
  :This is perfect.  Advise I heard earlier today is recalibrate often
  :especially with barometric changes.  The Data Book is full of altitudes
  :of
  :landmarks etc..
  :This entry has even more info along the same lines.
  :Thank You Redwood
  :
  :Warner Springs Monty
  :
  :
  :> [Original Message]
  :> From: Randy Forsland <randy_forsland@hotmail.com>
  :> To: pct-l <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
  :> Date: 12/26/2004 5:08:33 PM
  :> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Lightest slimest altimeter watch?  (NOT the Helix)
  :>
  :> One thing to think about is that most wristwatch/altimeters rely on the
  :> barometric pressure reading to calculate elevation. The only way to get
  :true
  :> altitude is with a GPS system which is immune to barometric
  :fluctuations.
  :> That being said, you will find that all of the wristwatch altimeters
  :will
  :> tend to drift throughout the day. Barometric readings are a measure of
  :the
  :> air density and cold air is denser than warm. So I found that if I
  :waited
  :> until the sun has been up for at leat four hours before calibrating the
  :> altimeter, it would stay calibrated and reflect more accurately the
  :> elevations than if I tried calibrating it early in the am or later in
  :the
  :> evening.
  :>
  :> I had on a couple of occassions, noticed that a column of very dense
  :air
  :> would sometimes be present on the southern sides of the passes and
  :would
  :> cause large fluctuations in the altitude reading as we climbed,
  :sometimes
  :> dropping 1000 ft or so. I saw this same affect with 3 different
  :altimeter
  :> watches including the Helix.
  :>
  :> The altimeter watch is still a great navigational tool. Yogi's PCT
  :Handbook
  :> has a writeup that I submitted in the "Favorite piece of Gear" section.
  :It
  :> saved my butt on a couple of occassions. You don't need to be spot
  :on...plus
  :> or minus a couple hundred feet is fine when trying to locate your
  :position
  :> on the topo maps...
  :>
  :> The 3 altimeters that were present in the group that I huked with were
  :the
  :> Helix, Casio and the Highgear (which I thought was the best looking)..I
  :had
  :> no problem waking up to the Helix alarm...but I usually sleep pretty
  :light
  :> on the trail.
  :>
  :> here is a link for the highgear watch
  :>
  :> http://www.freshtracksmaps.com/altimeters.htm
  :>
  :> Redwood
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